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Denver’s first 99-cent vinyl pop up sale

Ryan Dykstra taking vinyl to a new level

Photo credit: Sarai Nissan

With the 99-cent sales taking Fort Collins and Boulder by storm, Denverites have been anxiously awaiting the chance for their own city to hold a pop-up sale for vinyl. Opportunity graced Denver on Feb. 3 at Lincoln Street station. Ryan Dykstra, of Ryan Dykstra Records, held Denver’s first pop-up 99-cent vinyl sale. These pop-up vinyl sales have been becoming increasingly popular thanks to local business owners.

With the resurgence of vinyl-collecting in the past few years, crowds scrambled at the chance to get a 99-cent record. Dykstra said the sale exceeded their expectations, selling thousands of records.

“I’ve been a fanatical record collector myself for about 20 years,” Dykstra said. “In December 2016, I opened up a boutique with a friend of mine who owns Mile High DJ Supply in Arvada. It worked out really well, and since December, I have opened 12 locations throughout Colorado with four more coming in March.”

Vinyl connoisseurs young and old flocked to the bar to drink and leaf through thousands of used records of every type of music genre imaginable. Each record was priced at 99 cents on the first floor, and on the second floor they offered a “buy one, get one free” deal.

Attendees were pleasantly surprised by how well Dykstra records was able to organize the event. “I thought this sale was going to be filled with chaos like Black Friday is,” Tony Vohs, a burgeoning record collector, said. “But everyone’s been super chill with letting people take turns. I think the beer helps with that.”

Dykstra opened his record company in order to share the wonderful world of vinyl with people of all ages. “You have this new generation of millennials and younger folks, and their whole life they’ve had MP3s, streaming, and iTunes,” Dykstra said. “With vinyl, you can touch, hold, and see the vinyl and album art. You can feel the music in your hands, which is one of the many characteristics that makes vinyl unique.”

Vinyl records give the listener an experience that CDs and streamed music cannot. It brings a sense of nostalgia. The crackles and warmth that come from a record player gives vinyl its own personality.

“What spawned my inspiration to start these pop-up sales was buying vinyl from collectors,” Dykstra said. “I wasn’t taking all the records at first; I was only taking the best of the best. I realized there was an outlet to sell all types of vinyl at every level.”

These 99-cent vinyl sales have popped up all over Colorado, including Fort Collins at Intersect Brewery and Music-Go-Round in Aurora. “I made a Facebook event for the Denver sale. Within a couple of days there were thousands of RSVPs,” Dykstra said. “We knew it was going to be a lot bigger than any of our events before. It was a huge success.”

Dykstra is positive about vinyl records maintaining their momentus popularity. “I hear people always say how the vinyl sounds better,” Dykstra said. “To me, it’s the greatest way for music to be portrayed.”